This is a gathering together of recordings made over
a period of about seven years and covers everything Grieg wrote involving
an orchestra in some way. I toyed with the idea of rearranging it to
listen chronologically, and so get an idea of Griegís development, but
few listeners are likely to want to do this and I feel the compilers
of sets like this should also be judged on their success or not in making
each disc a listener-friendly experience, so I opted for a disc-by-disc
account.

CD 1

The ultra-popular works are not really the point in
this kind of set so I wonít dwell on the Piano Concerto but it is in
fact a very fresh and attractive performance. The performers allow themselves
plenty of elbow room for rubatos and rallentandos but the tempi themselves
are kept steadier than usual and certain time-honoured exaggerations
are avoided. The orchestra enters in tempo after the first movement
cadenza and due consideration has been given to the fact that if Grieg
wrote the adagio in 3/8 rather than 3/4 he couldnít have wanted it all
that slow. The dances in the finale have exemplary bounce at steady
tempi. I wonít be throwing out Lipatti, Solomon or Curzon, but Iím glad
to have this.

In Autumn is the earliest orchestral work which
Grieg acknowledged (for the suppressed Symphony see CD 5) though we
hear it in a later revision he made. The gentle moments have a wistful
poetry which is most touching but the livelier folksy themes are a bit
too obvious. Though cast in sonata-form the overall impression is of
a rather stop-go construction, and this does nothing to disguise its
length. It is worth hearing occasionally for its fresh charm.

By Symphonic Dances Grieg meant that the four
pieces correspond to the four movements of a symphony. The conductor
who programmed this work in place of a real symphony would leave his
public very undernourished, alas. The second is a charming piece but
the others get up no sort of momentum and often try to hide the fact
by making a lot of noise. Real folk themes are employed and invite the
reflection that perhaps the reason for the success of Dvorakís Slavonic
Dances (a set of which can be listened to as a satisfying alternative
to a symphony) is that the composer writes his own themes. It is surprising
how often the composer who bases a piece on folk tunes ends up by proving
Constant Lambertís dictum that "all you can do with a folk-tune
is play it again louder". The major exceptions to this rule are
the Stanford Irish Rhapsodies which sometimes sound more symphonic than
the same composerís symphonies (but see my comments on op. 63 in CD
2 below).

Excellent performances.

CD 2

A flowing, gracious, and also deeply felt, performance
of the "Holberg" Suite confirms this as one of the
most perfect of romantic suites inspired by the baroque. The following
two pairs of melodies are all arrangements Grieg made from his songs
and show him at his most romantically melodious. Järvi plays them
passionately but without indulging them; he has the gift of letting
them unfold naturally. Hear him caress "The First Meeting"
without ever lapsing into sentimentality Ė this is a highly attractive
piece in his hands.

The most remarkable music on this disc is the Two
Nordic Melodies, and, having been sniffy about Griegís use of actual
folk melodies in the Symphonic Dances I can only say I am astounded
at what he does here (the more so when the two works have consecutive
opus numbers!). The first is profoundly inventive in its textures and
builds up with great breadth to an epic statement that looks forward
to Sibelius. The second is delightfully fresh and again uses the string
orchestra most imaginatively.

After so much string music, the entry of the oboe in
"Evening in the Mountains", the first of the Two Lyric
Pieces, is unforgettable. This is an example of how imaginative
programming can add to the impact of an already beautiful piece. Järvi
draws the maximum atmosphere from this desolate Tristan-inspired poem,
and then keeps the following "Cradle Song" very much on the
move, always gently rocking.

Of the Lyric Suite, only the first, "The
Shepherd Boy", was orchestrated by Grieg, for strings only. He
adds a striking dimension to a piece whose piano original has never
fired me with much enthusiasm. The remainder were orchestrated (for
full orchestra) by Anton Seidl and shown to Grieg, who protested that
they were too heavily Wagnerian. He rejected one, "Bell-Ringing"
(though it is played here) and pruned the orchestration of the others
before permitting publication. I can only say he didnít prune it anything
like enough. "Norwegian March" and "March of the Trolls"
are reasonable enough in a riotous sort of way but it is a pity to hear
the "Nocturne" hammed up in this pre-Hollywood style. Järvi
adopts a tempo that would certainly be too slow for the piano original
but which is fair enough for this version given the premise that the
thing had to be played at all. In any case, if you hanker after the
gentle purity of Griegís original conception you will want to hear it
played on the piano.

CD 3-4

A few conductors made LP selections from Peer Gynt
which went beyond the traditional two suites, most famously Beecham
and Barbirolli, and not forgetting Sir Alexander Gibsonís World Record
Club selection. But it was a Unicorn set made in 1978 under Per Dreier
(transferred to CD in 1987) which brought the revelation that Griegís
music, long derided for having prettified Ibsenís stark and unsentimental
drama, had measured up to the project far better than was generally
believed. Not that the music outside the extended selections usually
amounts to more than fragments and melodramas, but so chillingly atmospheric
and dramatically potent are they that even the familiar pieces appear
under an entirely new light. In any case, a "Morning Mood"
as scrupulously phrased and paced as Järviís is far from being
the anaemic piece if tone-painting we know from popular orchestral concerts
of yore. Beecham also had a choir in "In the Hall of the Mountain
King" but it was not very evident. Here, with the sinister aspects
of the orchestration relished and the choir brought right forward the
effect is spine-chilling. For what it tells about Griegís potentialities
as a composer this complete Peer can only be compared to the
revelation Ė also dating from the 1970s Ė of the ur-Mussorgsky in all
his barbaric power.

A very detailed note from Finn Benestad and Rune J.
Andersen, editors of the music as published in Vol. 18 of the Complete
Grieg Edition, state that this performance, based on that edition, is
the first recording of the definitive score. I donít have the Dreier
set to hand but I have tracked down a review of both this and the original
issue of the Järvi and it would seem that the principal differences
are that Dreier adds Ė on the grounds that they were included at a revival
in Copenhagen in 1886 - the "Norwegian Bridal Procession"
(an arrangement by Halvorsen of a piano piece) and the first three of
the Norwegian Dances, op. 35 (which you get on their own account
at the end of CD 4, but see my comment below), but did not include any
of the melodramas. As stated above, these add strongly to the total
effect, to the extent of making preference for Järvi automatic.
In any case Dreierís conducting was generally felt to be sound but underwhelming,
something that could most emphatically not be said of Järvi who,
as suggested above, packs a real punch when necessary but is also highly
sensitive in the gentler pieces. The vocal contributions add a definite
dimension to the whole (but the original issue printed texts and translations),
with a welcome presence from Barbara Bonney as Solveig. If you want
just the two suites, the booklet lists the tracks you need to programme
in order to do that.

Sigurd Jorsalfar is also claimed to be the first
recording of the authentic version and in this case, too, it was preceded
by a "complete" Unicorn version under Per Dreier which I havenít
heard, so I canít say what the differences are. Sigurd is a tale
of romantic chivalry and draws from Grieg music of a certain heroic
dignity, mostly diatonic and brassy. There is no revelation here comparable
to that of Peer Gynt. There are no melodramas or fragments, apart
from the opening horn calls which are simply arpeggios that anybody
could write. In addition to the usual three orchestral pieces (also
here you get instructions for programming just these) there are two
rousing ballad-style numbers for tenor and chorus. These are well worth
hearing, and the Act 1 Prelude, based on the same theme as the final
chorus, gives a certain symmetry to the sequence. But the first Interlude
is mostly, and the second wholly, based on the Homage March, in itself
not exactly unrepetitive. This may have a point in the theatre but when
the pieces follow each other consecutively it seems pious completism
to hear it three times over.

The tenor has an attractive if sometimes tremulous
timbre and the male voices are rough on their top A (it only happens
once) but the orchestra is splendid and Järvi sees that the spirit
is always right.

The Funeral March for Rikard Nordraak is not
thematically memorable but it is a striking expression not only of numbed
grief but also of protest at the death at a mere 23 years of a friend
in whom Grieg had such high hopes. Emphatically more than a pièce
díoccasion.

The Norwegian Dances were written for piano
duet and orchestrated by Hans Sitt. Since these orchestrations were
made after Griegís death (the German booklet note tells us this, the
English one does not) they do not have the semi-authority of Seidlís
arrangements in the Lyric Suite, which Grieg saw and revised.
That being so, arguably they have no place here. The puzzling thing
is that (as I have pointed out above) the first three dances were included
in a Copenhagen revival of Peer Gynt in 1886, and so orchestrations
must have been made or at least approved by Grieg for that occasion.
Do they still exist?

However, Sitt did a very expert job. These pieces are
less pretentious than the Symphonic Dances, but I feel their
place is in the domestic hearth envisaged by their original version.
Though the music is very charming it lacks development, something which
is emphasised by hearing it on a full scale orchestra. One feels, as
one does not with the Dvorak Slavonic Dances or even the Brahms
Hungarian Dances, most of which were not orchestrated by Brahms
himself, that a sledge-hammer is being used to crack a nut. Lively performances
from Järvi but perhaps for once he tries to read too much into
the slower sections at times.

CD 5

In 1863 Grieg went to Copenhagen to study with Niels
Gade, then the leading Scandinavian composer. For some reason Gade found
it rather reprehensible that Grieg had not written a symphony yet and
urged him to do so. The result, completed the following year, received
a few performances and was then withdrawn by Grieg, perhaps because
by then Svendsenís first symphony, with its much more natural feeling
for symphonic form, had appeared (I recently had the two Svendsen symphonies
to review on Chandos CHAN 9932) and Grieg hoped that Svendsen would
develop the art of the symphony in Norway, leaving him free to explore
the more poetical forms congenial to him. He arranged the two middle
movements for piano duet a few years later but he labelled the manuscript
of the symphony "must never be performed", a wish that was
respected until 1981. The reputation of a composer with the public has
a way of standing or falling by his symphony if he happened to write
one, so it as well that for long years this work remained hidden from
view; heaven forbid that Griegís reputation should have depended on
a piece so uncharacteristic both in its themes and with regard to what
his lifeís work was aimed at doing.

That said, the first movement is not unattractive.
If it doesnít sound like Grieg, it sounds at least as Nordic as Gade
ever did and the contemporary listener who heard both this and the Svendsen
might have found hints that this was the composer of the two who would
later move and inspire his public. It was written and orchestrated in
14 days and perhaps this accounts for the sense of youthful enthusiasm
which, more than any symphonic skill, holds it together. Unfortunately
the two middle movements are very watery and characterless indeed. The
finale may be a conscious effort to avoid Gadeís habit of spoiling an
otherwise good symphony by lapsing into four-square jubilation, but
this stop-go construction is no solution to the problem. Järvi
does what he can.

At under seven minutes, Land-sighting is nonetheless
a work of real stature, its broad hymn-like themes growing in intensity
to reach an inspiring conclusion. As it is short it perhaps does not
belie Griegís reputation as a miniaturist, but in another sense it is
a revelation since it is an epic statement in miniature. Anyone who
enjoys Elgar in patriotic vein will thrill to this Norwegian equivalent.

Sigurd Jorsalfar and Landsighting were
collaborations with Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson, with Ibsen
the leading Norwegian poet of the day. Bjørnson was thrilled
by the results and proposed the creation of a large-scale dramatic work
which would be the Norwegian national opera. Unfortunately, after three
scenes Bjørnson left Norway for Austria and Italy and did not
return for many years. Grieg, feeling he had been left in the lurch,
became estranged from him and fifteen years passed before a rapprochement
came about and Grieg conducted the three completed scenes of Olav
Trygvason. The music was enthusiastically received but nothing further
was written.

Could Grieg have measured up to a large-scale heroic
national opera? The evidence of these 35 minutes is that he probably
could. It would have been a tableau opera, rather like Boris Godunov,
but that need be no bad thing and he lacks neither breadth nor heroic
tone. The third scene, with its choral dances, is quite thrilling. Apart
from an unlovely contralto the performance is superb, but we needed
the words, which were present when the CD was first issued separately.

CD 6

The Old Norwegian Melody takes a brief but attractive
theme and the ensuing variations alternate poetry, delicacy and strength.
Some of the variations are very brief indeed but all make their point
(Järviís characterisation of them is always spot on) and there
is a more extended Adagio molto espressivo before the last group
which constitute a majestic finale which then dies away so that the
work ends with a very poetic coda.

Has this quiet ending discouraged conductors (with
the notable exception of Beecham) from taking the piece up? If so, shame
on them, for this is clearly the masterpiece among Griegís works for
full orchestra and deserves a place in the repertoire alongside the
variations of Brahms, Dvorak and Elgar.

The listener will find it interesting to compare the
first song here, The First Meeting, with Griegís arrangement
of it as the second of the Two Melodies, op. 53. On his own Järvi
digs into it and draws it out (it lasts a minute longer) with very rich
string tone. The music can take it but a light soprano voice probably
couldnít, and Barbara Bonney gives a performance which is just as moving
in its tender restraint as is the other in its more overt passion. Järvi
adapts himself to Bonneyís quite different conception with admirable
musicianship.

These orchestral songs (arranged by Grieg from piano
originals) are all highly attractive. The absence of the words is once
again regrettable though such melodic writing can be enjoyed for its
own sake, especially when so well sung. Spring is an outstandingly
beautiful piece.

Being originally conceived for just voice and piano,
these songs are mainly intimate in expression. The Mountain Thrall
was intended for an orchestra of strings and two horns from the start
and is a fine example of the composerís epic vein. Grieg himself was
particularly fond of it and felt that with it he had "accomplished
one of the few good deeds of my life".

Whoever made the decision not to print the words in
this set, which were included with the original issues, most emphatically
has not done one of the few good deeds of his life. I keep returning
to this, and I have to since "Before a Southern Convent",
while it has its moments of lyrical writing, has many more where we
clearly need to know what is being said. But above all, it is quite
ridiculous to expect any but a native Norwegian to sit through over
17 minutes of recitation Ė Bergliot - without knowing what it
is about. This is especially so considering that actual sustained music
is rare; for the most part Grieg illustrates the poem with tremolandos
and dramatic chords. I daresay it is very effective, and Norwegian would
seem the ideal language for near-hysterical dramatic declamation, rather
like Münchís "The Scream" come to life. But only a Norwegian
is likely to hear it a second time. The booklet notes are informative
but, if space really forbade a few pages more, in the case of the vocal
works perhaps it would have been better to keep the words and omit the
note. Or could not the note on the piano concerto have been omitted,
since it is sufficiently well-known not to need it?

I must confess that Grieg was one of my teenage passions,
and like most such it didnít seem to last. Well-disposed as I am towards
romantic music generally I never systematically explored him beyond
the well-known pieces. There must be many music-lovers who would say
the same and I recommend this box to all of them. There are some disappointments
(particularly the Symphonic Dances) but in general this is a
small output of consistently high quality, and a wider range than one
might expect. Performance and recording are of such quality as to ensure
that it is not necessary to seek alternative versions of these works
save perhaps the Piano Concerto and those few that were recorded by
Beecham. The notes are good, in three languages, so all that is lacking
for a definitive presentation is the texts. Why will companies spoil
the ship for a haíporth of tar? And if they say there wasnít room in
the booklet, I reply that they havenít worried unduly about questions
of space, for the box itself is high, wide and handsome, with the result
that it wonít fit into any of the shelves or drawers where I keep my
CDs. Now I call that real smart.

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